Bagel Chips
by Secret Starlyte
Summary: A year has passed since Will last saw Lyra through the window in the air. Although, Will still longs for her and has been depressed and inactive ever since... Until a packet bagel chips came along!


**Bagel Chips**

  
**Summary**: A year has passed since Will last saw Lyra through the window in the air. Although, Will still longs for her and has been depressed and inactive ever since... Until a packet bagel chips came along!  
**Disclaimer**: I'm not fortunate enough to own the HDM characters at all =(  
**Rating**: PG - for... uh... mild swearing and some issues  
**A/N**: i'm not sure why i'm writing this! but the idea came to me while i was eating... you guessed it! bagel chips! ^.^  
  
  
Part One  
  
  
"Crunchy munchy and gooOod to eat!"  
"Tasty pastry and suuUuch a treat!"  
  
"BAGEL CHIPS!"  
  
  
Will Parry stared incredulously at the T.V screen in Mary Malone's living room. His body was sprawled on a rather lumpy sofa which was littered with food, rubbish and a squashed furry object which may have once been a rat. His daemon, Kirjava, sat dozing on his stomach, chest rising and falling with each breath. Will's hand dangled over the side, a remote stuck almost permanently into his hand. They had been sitting like this for almost a year. The only time Will had gone outside was to go to work at a building construction site for money and to the Botanic Gardens with Kirjava on Midsummer's Day for Lyra.  
  
"What the hell are bagel chips?" he muttered gloomily whilst his daemon purred contently in her sleep.  
  
The first two months following the knife-breaking had been better than anything he had experienced in this world before. There had, at first, been disputes and court cases, but they had eventually come out on top. However, it was mostly thanks to Mary and her lawyer that Will and his mother were able to move in with her peacefully. They all became a close-knit family knowing that they were always there for each other. Will's mother's mind had started to clear and Will had even gotten himself a job to help pay the bills. His boss didn't even mind that he didn't go to school, because he knew Will was clever enough to learn necessary skills.  
  
"Will?" a soft voice called from the kitchen.  
  
Will suddenly sat upright on the sofa, knocking an empty can onto the already cluttered floor. Kirjava, sensing how he felt, got up immediately, ears pricking up at the sound.  
  
"No, it can't be her!" he thought to Kirjava in disbelief.  
  
Will's life had taken a sudden downfall one Sunday afternoon when Mary and himself had come back from grocery shopping. The picture of his mother's still, dead body slumped across her bed still haunted their minds to that day. In her small hands she clasped the letters she had received from Will's father those many years ago. An empty bottle lay beside her. Will had known that his mother had grieved, but he thought she may have accepted it by then. He was obviously wrong.  
  
"Will, I think it's time you got around to cleaning the living room. It's an absolute pigsty!"  
  
Mary Malone walked into the room, hands on hips and a small frown on her normally cheery face.  
  
"I'll clean it soon," Will replied absently, trying to hide his disappointment. Kirjava curled up again on the sofa.  
  
He stared at the television with blank eyes once more. Suddenly the screen went black, snapping his eyes back into focus once more.  
  
"This is the third time I've asked you to clean the living room, I'm afraid." Mary said sternly, standing by the T.V.  
  
Will stared defiantly at her, his eyes determined and unmoving. His daemon slowly sat up gazing, with a similar expression, at Mary with her golden cat eyes.  
  
"I'll clean it when I want to. You're not my mother," he answered coldly.  
  
Her eyes softened and she gazed at him in concern.  
  
"Will, I know its been a very hard time for you these past few months," she began gently, sitting down in her armchair. "but I think... I think its time to accept the fact... that your mother's gone."  
  
They all sat silently. After about a minute, Mary stood up and faced Will.  
  
"Don't worry, you don't need to clean the living room today if you don't want to. I'll get around to it... someday."  
  
She chuckled and strode swiftly back to kitchen. Will sat up on the sofa, moved by her words.  
  
"What have I become?!" he asked Kirjava. "What would Lyra think if she saw me like this?"

"Yes, now I wonder as well. What have we been doing Will?" she answered softly.  
  
Things were going to change. He wasn't going to sit around feeling sorry for himself anymore. He was going to take charge of his life, his future. He stood up, feeling more like himself than he had all year.  
  
"For Lyra," he whispered to himself, his heart desparately longing for her and his arms so willing to hold her.

"For Pantalaimon," Kirjava echoed, with as much passion and love as Will felt.  
  
Will smiled for the first time in months, stroking his daemon's silky fur, remembering what it was like to touch Pantalaimon's red-gold fur that year before. Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked around the room and then realised it was going to take a lot of effort.  
  
"Cleaning the living room?" he groaned.  
  
He was convinced that it was going to, at least, take a few years to clean the living room. Will stretched his body, his muscles ready to begin. His arms were certainly more defined than they had been the previous year and his work at the building site ensured that. One of his strong arms grabbed a garbage bag Mary had left for him and he waded through the rubbish, picking up bits of food and paper scattered on the ground. Kirjava daintily made her way through the mess, pointing out things he had missed. Three tiresome hours later, the living room was free of debris. Will looked proudly at their work, drinking a glass of water Mary had happily gotten for him. Kirjava hungrily drank some milk from her bowl.  
  
"Something still smells funny though," Will thought.  
  
He suspiciously sniffed his armpit and instantly regretted his decision as a wave of unpleasant odour, which smelt a lot like shit, wafted into his nose.  
  
"Gross!" he exclaimed, instantly running to the bathroom.  
  
Half an hour later, Will emerged from the shower with a towel around his waist, feeling more refreshed, awake and energized than ever. His daemon sat on his bedroom floor, licking herself clean. As he rubbed his jet-black hair dry, a loud rumble echoed throughout his room.  
  
"What was tha-" he wondered aloud, but he was interrupted by another loud rumbling noise.

Kirjava began to laugh lightly and he blushed in embarrassment as he realised it was his own stomach. Patting his tight stomach, he suddenly had a craving for something he had never craved for in his life.  
  
"I feel like bagel chips!"  
  
  
  
End of Part One  
  
A/N: MmMm.. bagel chips!? i don't get it either, but plz review anyway! =)


End file.
